The present invention relates to image enhancement.
The HSV (hue, saturation, value), or HSB (hue, saturation, brightness) model of the color space model facilitates a more intuitive modification of the colors of an image than changing the colors of an image based directly upon the modification of three primary colors model, i.e. R, G, and B. The RGB color space has the shape of a cube while the HSV color space has the shape of a hexagonal cone. The HSV cone is a non-linear transformation of the RGB cube and at times it is referred to as a perceptual model. ‘Perceptual’ means the attributes that are more akin to the way in which human-beings think of color.
HSV model facilitates modification of the range or gamut of an RGB display device using the perceptually based variables, i.e. hue, saturation and value/brightness. The HSV model is based on polar coordinates (r, e, z) rather than Cartesians coordinates used in the RGB model. Hue, or tint or tone, is represented as an angle about the z axis, ranging from 0° through 360°. Vertices of the hexagon are separated by 60° increment. Red is at H=0°, Yellow at H=60°, Green at H=120°, and Cyan at H=180°. Complementary colors are 180° spaced apart from each other. Distance from the z axis represents saturation (S): the amount of color present. S varies from 0 to 1. It is represented in this model as the ratio of the purity of a hue. S=1 represents maximum purity of this hue. A hue is said to be one-quarter purity at S=0.25. At S=0, the gray scale is resulted. V, value of HSV, varies from 0 at the apex of the hexcone to 1 at the bottom of the hexcone. V=0 represents blackness. With V=1, color has his maximum intensity. When V=1 and S=1, we have the pure hue. Whiteness is obtained at the location of V=1 and S=0.
Most existing current color enhancement techniques typically boosts saturation of colors while keeping the colors' hue substantially unchanged. In the hue-saturation color wheel such as the one shown in FIG. 1, a typical color enhancement technique moves colors outward on the radial direction as shown by the arrows. Essentially, the color enhancement algorithm increases the input images' dynamic range by increasing the saturation of the pixels.
The techniques used to enhance the color enhancement of an image are based upon modification of individual pixels. When the color of a pixel is enhanced to a new color, the conversion from the old color to the new color for each pixel is a predetermined fixed adjustment for the entire image or for the entire video.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.